


One Bad Night

by glitterjemstone



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff, Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-08-27 07:26:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8392528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterjemstone/pseuds/glitterjemstone
Summary: Eponine sees Cosette at a party for the first time and has no filter. Fortunately, Cosette doesn't mind.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you, paint_chips for telling me about Thoreau's poem, which Jehan talks about. Inspired by a tumblr post, for which I do not have the link.Thanks Hayley Kiyoko for the title of this fic (buy Citrine on iTunes).

Eponine could safely say she did not want to be here. At all. Combeferre had invited her, and now she was stuck in the corner while Bahorel and Joly talked beside her. She was grateful they weren’t trying too hard to bring her into the conversation, because she had let her mind begin to wander about ten minutes ago, but they were a nice way to appear invested in the party, like she belonged here.

It wasn’t that Eponine wasn’t happy that Grantaire had sold a painting for a large sum of money, or that Courfeyrac had gotten the internship he’d worked so hard to get, or that Les Amis had a thing for celebrating several things at once. She was happy for her friends, and it wasn't that she didn’t care about them, she was just _tired_. That’s all. Les Amis were all so full of passion and energy, even Grantaire, and Eponine could never quite keep up with them. She showed up to the meetings, she went to their rallies, their parties, but was always the extra factor. It was Les Amis and Eponine.

The worst part of this was that the one person she would tell this to was terribly missing from the group at the moment. Marius had promised he’d be here, as to not let her suffer alone, but was clearly late. He’d told the group he was going to bring a friend of his, claiming they would fit right in, and wanted to introduce them to everyone when Enjolras, their fearless leader, wasn’t enthusiastically yelling about healthcare and bodily autonomy.

So maybe Marius had decided it was a better idea to spend the evening with his mysterious friend, rather than spending it in Musichetta, Bossuet, and Joly’s apartment with a little too much alcohol going around. Eponine didn’t blame him, and so she was fine remaining in her corner until she heard a loud knock at the front door.

Feuilly, who was closest to the door along with Jehan, quickly opened the door with a wide grin on his face.

The first person to enter was Marius, which made Eponine breathe a sigh of relief. He looked exhausted, but like he had mustered up any energy he had to be here. His chocolate brown hair was tousled in a way that used to make her heart skip a beat, but it had been years since she’d felt that familiar flip-flop in her chest. He was his usual lost-puppy-looking, bright-smiling self.

The second person to enter the apartment was, undoubtedly, an angel. There was no possibility of anything else, except maybe a siren, in which case Eponine would happily drown.

They had long, curly blonde hair that formed ringlets around their face, framing their soft, glowing skin and a pair of the warmest brown eyes Eponine had ever seen. Their cheeks were perfectly rosy, whether natural or cosmetic (she didn’t care), and Eponine simply fell over herself with butterflies.

Before even a second had passed, Eponine lost all control of any verbal filter she might have and let something slip out of her goddamn mouth.

“Dibs.”

And not even another second later Grantaire burst out laughing, nearly falling on to Enjolras, and Joly slapped her arm.

“Eponine!” He snapped, “You can’t say that!” Of course, everyone was horrified at her comment. _Except_ , that the angel didn’t seem bothered. The angel was smiling, and Eponine didn’t have any regrets at all.

“Guys, this is my friend.” Marius said tentatively, which was understandable. He probably wouldn’t want anyone else saying inappropriate things, and frankly, neither did Eponine (but she kept this to herself). Everyone kept staring though, and said friend but their lip, waiting. It took a second, but Marius seemed to know what he had forgotten. “Her name is Cosette. Be nice?”

Eponine decided to not mention that it was already too late for her to _be nice_ , and that nice isn’t exactly how she wanted to act towards Cosette. Try… flirty, sappy, seductive. All things she was bad at, but nonetheless Marius’s words had little impact on her.

Suddenly a chorus of “ _Hello/Hi/Hey_ , Cosette!”’s filled the apartment, with only Eponine left having not spoken.

**

Too quickly the celebration picked back up again and Eponine found herself dragged into a conversation with Jehan about Henry David Thoreau.

“His imagery is just so beautiful, you know? It’s like he builds palaces out of lines in my mind.” Jehan said excitedly, bouncing up and down on the balls of their feet. Eponine nodded mindlessly.

“And _god_ , ‘The Moon’ has _got_ to be my favorite I’ve read so far. Personifying the moon isn’t an uncommon idea but when he writes it, it feels like I can imagine it as a queen— she’s so glittering and royal.”

The only glittering thing Eponine could see was Cosette out of the corner of her eye, laughing at something with Grantaire and Enjolras.

Her hair shook as she laughed, almost as bubbly and abundant as her smile: her sweet, _sweet_ smile that was already making Eponine weak in the knees.

She realized she had just missed what Jehan had said about Thoreau, something maybe about feeling like they were floating on lily pads when they read Thoreau, and cursed herself for letting herself daydream.

“Shit, J, sorry. I wasn’t listening.” Eponine apologized.

“Too busy thinking about taking Cosette home tonight?” They smirked, training a knowing look on her.

Eponine elbowed him. “No.”

“Yes.”

“Maybe.” Eponine admitted. “But not… taking her home to… just fuck her. Thinkin’ about, like, going to the diner down the street with her.”

“Aw, Ep.” Jehan cooed.

“Shut up.” She threatened.

“You _wish_.”

**

That was the last time Cosette crossed her mind. That is, until a half hour later when Cosette wandered into the kitchen, where Eponine had perched herself on the granite countertop while Jehan poured them both more soda (‘no alcohol’ had become a rule in Eponine’s mind since Cosette walked in).

“Hey.” Cosette said, smiling sweetly. Everything about her was sweet, from her smile to the oxford shoes she wore to the iron-pressed shorts she had on. Eponine didn’t think she had every wanted anyone more, and she held herself backing from kissing her amber lips.

“H-hey.” Eponine stuttered.

“Uh… I liked what you said earlier.” Cosette said.

“This is my cue to leave, I’m assuming.” Jehan said bluntly, winking at Eponine and grabbing their drink and exiting the room, leaving them alone. Cosette stood next to her, leaning against the countertop casually.

“You mean the ‘dibs’ thing?” Eponine said hesitantly.

“Yeah.”

“It was a dick thing to say. Seriously.” Eponine laughed, feeling her guard come down in just a few words mixed in with an easy smile.

“Yeah, maybe, but it was also kind of cute. Mostly because you’re kind of cute.” Cosette replied.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Cosette confirmed.

“Good.” Eponine said.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“We should stop saying ‘yeah’.” Cosette said.

“Yeah.” Cosette giggled, and Eponine’s heart soared. She added, “We should also go out sometime.”

She tried to fight back a smile, but it then occurred to her she had no reason to. She let herself grin until it hurt.

“Do you have anywhere in mind?” Cosette asked.

“There’s a diner down the street from here. Their fries are good, and so are their milkshakes.” Eponine responded. Hopefully the other girl was just as eager as her to get out of here.

“And leave this party?” Cosette raised an eyebrow playfully, a gleam in her eye that made Eponine want to kiss her silly. “You better be worth it.”

Eponine leaned closer to Cosette, to the point where they could feel each other’s breaths. Cosette looked into her eyes but slowly moved her gaze down to Eponine’s lips. Eponine came just the slightest bit closer, until even the smallest movement would bring their lips together.

“Oh, angel,” She whispered. Their lips ghosted over each other, light as a feather. “I will be.”


End file.
